What drives us

WACKER, as an innovative chemical company, makes a vital contribution to improving the quality of life around the world. We strive for a better future.

But you don’t shape the future by accepting things as they are – it is by questioning things and acting accordingly that we have become a technology leader in the chemical industry. That is why we can look back at more than 100 years of success; offering our customers added value and growing sustainably.

In today’s world, digitalization offers immense potential. That’s why we have launched the WACKER Digital program. To seize the initiative and forge our own path into the digital future.

Digitalization presents enormous opportunities for us. But with great opportunities come great challenges. Challenges we want to master together.

And that means all WACKER employees. After all, digitalization is not solely the responsibility of management. Mastering digital change calls upon the knowledge, motivation and creative spirit of every single person in the company.

We don’t yet know how digitalization will change our working world. But we are striving together to find the answers, driving change and seizing the opportunities.

„Digitalization does not belong to a distant future – many digital technologies can already be used to add value to our products and processes today.”

Dr. Tobias Ohler, Executive Board Wacker Chemie AG

WACKER Digital – the program

WACKER Digital is pushing ahead with the digitalization of the company. The program provides a framework for new and existing digital projects within the Group. Our goal is to actively embrace the opportunities offered by digitalization to take a leading role in the chemical industry.

What does that actually mean? Along our entire value-creation chain, digitalization is enabling previously unimaginable connectivity, from suppliers to logistics, research and production, right through to customers. We want to harness the data generated in this process: from efficiency gains in production through intelligent sensor technology to virtual simulations in research and product development to new digital business models.

This requires us to utilize the expertise of every single WACKER employee. After all, it’s in our day-to-day work that we can unlock this potential: that’s where the ideas we want to implement are born and where we realize the concept often so abstractly and inaccessibly described as “digitalization”.

That’s why WACKER Digital is not a program by managers for managers. It’s our joint project.

Frontend

We always focus on the customer. That’s why we are providing our customers with an industry-leading digital experience through improved customer interfaces, new business models, and innovation leadership.

Operations

Our key concern is the digitalization of production, logistics, research and development, with our main goal being to optimize processes for more efficient production, more effective equipment and higher safety.

Foundation

For digitalization to be successful, we need to lay the right foundations: from the development of a functioning and future-oriented IT infrastructure to digital collaboration and employee development.

Above all, digitalization is an opportunity for us to, once again, lead the way in our industry and put WACKER in the forefront

Dirk Ramhorst, CIO / Chief Digital Officer Foundation

Digitalization plays a huge role in productivity, security, quality and customer satisfaction

Jörg Krey, Chief Digital Officer Operations

We want to be the first choice for our customers, suppliers and employees - also when it comes to digital processes and products.

Axel Schmidt, Chief Digital Officer Frontend

Practical experience: what we're working on at WACKER Digital.

Digitalization brings about many new issues that will change business processes and improve our working world. Find here some examples of current projects we are working on:

Sales EnablementWe make it easier for our sales managers to work together with both our customers and with internal interfaces. For example, by modernizing hardware and software and advising customers using video conferences, internal apps or a new customer relationship management system.

Predictive MaintenanceWe develop data-based solutions that can help to reduce production disruptions. On the basis of the data collected, repair measures can be taken or operating conditions can be altered at an early stage to stabilize and optimize our production processes.

Advanced Process ControlWe increase the effectiveness of our production facilities through model-based forecasting and process control systems. This enables us to maximize capacity utilization and minimize specific energy and raw material consumption.

Mobile Solutions in Engineering & OperationsWe facilitate work processes in industrial plants by making relevant information available in real time on mobile devices (e.g. tablets). This streamlines documentation and reporting while improving plant availability and compliance.